Permit conditions for school buses

Prescribing of permit conditions by transport department for school buses and other cabs, being hired by schools, is a welcome step. This is imperative for the safety and the comfort of the school children, travelling in such vehicles.

The prescribed conditions are as per the Supreme Court direction. A number of parents had complaints regarding  the school buses and cabs endangering the lives of their children and also making their travel uncomfortable. Overloading, lack of proper seats and over-speeding by drivers are some of the common  complaints.

While schools have their own buses, some parents arrange cabs for their school kids. The school authorities say they have nothing to do with these cabs and that those are not in their control. The permit conditions must be applied to the cabs, being arranged by parents, also. Overloading and rash driving are some of the complaints against some of the drivers.

It is being alleged that travel in these cabs particularly becomes dangerous on the link roads, where the drivers resort to over-speeding and violate other traffic rules . The parents must also ask the drivers not to indulge in the reckless driving and not to resort to overloading. If they will not speak, the children will keep on facing problems in the buses and cabs.

Sometimes wrong moves by drivers lead to unnecessary traffic jamming on roads. Such acts need to be avoided. The traffic police must particularly ensure smooth flow of traffic during the time when the school buses and cabs are on the move.

If the rush is not properly handled, not only the school children suffer in jamming but others traveling in other vehicles too have to bear the brunt. Since the schools have reopened now after the winter vacation, there is added rush on the roads. This rush has to be properly regulated and monitored on day to day basis.

New measures, if needed, have to be taken in this direction. The school buses and vans should not be parked on the roads outside the educational institutions. This blocks the roads and leads to long traffic jamming. Even the parents dropping  children at schools in the morning or picking up them for home in the afternoon too must avoid creating hurdles in the flow of traffic with wrong parking of their vehicles.